American Dad on Losing Kids, Japanese Jail

In an Exclusive Interview, Christopher Savoie Tells Story of Trying to Take Back His Kids with Police on His Heels

(CBS)  The American father who tried to take his children back from his ex-wife in Japan said in an exclusive interview with Phil Williams, chief investigative reporter of CBS Nashville affiliate WTVF that he's not only have trouble getting over what he endured in Japan -- he's also now having to come to grips with the real possibility that he won't be able to watch his own children grow up.

Christopher Savoie said the ordeal of more than two weeks in a Japanese jail was bad enough. But coming home without his children -- Isaac, now 9, and Rebeccab 6 -- was excruciating.

"There are no words for it, you know. There just aren't any words for it," he said.

Savoie, who's from Nashville, made international news when he picked up his kids as they walked to school with their mother.

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American Dad in Japanese Jail "Frightened"

He says his ex-wife, Noriko Savoie, had abducted the children to Japan in August -- and Tennessee courts gave him full custody. But Japan doesn't honor foreign custody agreements, so Chris took matters in his own hands.

Savoie told Williams the physical act of taking his children from their mother wasn't aggressive, saying, "Oh, no, hugging your kids and putting them in a car, I hardly think that is a violent act."

Savoie added he didn't push or hit his ex-wife when he took the children.

Finally reunited with them, Savoie raced to the nearby U.S. consulate. Savoie said the consulate knew they were coming, because he called ahead.

However, Savoie's plans for returning his children were thwarted by his ex-wife, who had alerted local police. They were waiting outside the consulate.

With Rebecca in his arms and Isaac trailing behind, Savoie said he tried to race past a police barricade, to get the children to U.S. soil. Savoie said he ran to the door with police in riot gear running after him with shields and batons.

"It felt like a movie, actually," Savoie said. "It was very unreal for me."

Japanese police arrested him and, for 17 days, held him in jail, repeatedly interrogating him, while they decided whether to indict him on kidnapping charges.

Savoie said, "Everything that you're not supposed to do to a defendant, especially pre-indictment, they did -- and a whole lot more."

While imprisioned, Savoie said he argued that he had a right to his children.

"They didn't disagree with me on that," he said. "They just said I'm not allowed to see them."

Then, last week prosecutors let Savoie go, with the stipulation that he leave the country and his kids.

"Basically, I'm not allowed to see them. I'm not allowed to call them," Savoie told Williams. "I'm not even allowed to send them birthday presents."

While Japanese authorities say he can pursue custody of his children through Japanese courts, Savoie knows the odds are against him. He said he just hopes the memory of the incident will let his children know he tried.

"They're going to find out who their dad is, what he's all about, and that he loves them," he said. "And if loving my kids so much that I really want to be with them is a crime, then, well, I'm guilty. I'm guilty of loving my kids."

Williams added on "The Early Show" that Savoie also said that, when he got to the consulate gates, one official reached out to take his daughter. But for reasons he doesn't understand, the gates never opened.

[God_Bless_Noriko]

Noriko was probably not putting out. Especially being a Japanese wife with two elementary school age kids both going to at least one, maybe two jukus, their schedules as filled as any fortune 500 CEO. Dr. Savoie was probably getting no nookie from Noriko.

He goes to Tennessee to meet up with old flame Amy who is married to some other guy and has 3 kids. They talk about old times and how Noriko is not giving him any and Amy has similar story about not getting any attention from her husband. Variations of this same conversation happen 10,000 times every day, if not more.
So, Dr. Savoie and Amy end up in bed. He couldn?t help himself. He didn?t get any for months and now he feels like a man again. He liked that she was married, because he could just have her for sex, and didn?t have to promise to marry her, like in the movie Bridges of Madison County, and he certainly didn?t want to give up his marriage to Noriko and 2 beautiful kids just for sex with Amy.
Unfortunately, Amy was smitten, and promised to leave her husband because she loved Dr. Savoie. (This kind of thing happens 1000s of times per day too). Now he is on the hook. What does he do? Remorseful, he confessed to Noriko. This hurts her to her very soul, and she is also enraged, seeks divorce. He is in a bad place.
Amy divorces husband for Dr. Savoie. Ex husband gets joint custody. Amy is stuck in Franklin. Savoie realizes what a bad situation he?s in. Taking Amy and her kids to Japan would have been a wonderful solution, but alas, she can?t move. He wanted to be with his kids and Amy too, so, he had to yank them from Japan to be near the unmovable Amy.
He skillfully maneuvers Noriko and kids to be near Amy so you could have a complete life, but Noriko cannot stand indignity of having to deal with mistress, so, she just as skillfully moves kids back to Japan.
Re-abduction plan in Japan fails.
Now, Savoie is left having to raise Amy?s ex husbands kids, and probably paying healthy alimony to him too. Sigh.

[Tanabata07]

Let this be a warning to stupid foreign guys here in Japan who fall for Japanese women. They might be cute but...

[foreignerinjapan]

These are often children who were born and raised in Japan, yet their fates are being decided in foreign courts where the Japanese parents are often handicapped by distance, language and expense. If this sounds familiar, it is because it is just a reversal of the experience of scores of foreign parents whose children have been unilaterally brought to abduction-friendly Japan.

[toldyouso21]

by mitsuko1984 October 15, 2009 4:30 PM EDT
Christopher, Noriko, and their two kids, all of them are Japanese citizen and speak Japanese. If they get divorced in Japan and he remained there, it could have been much easier for everyone with visitation. However, he chose to have an affair with Amy and decided to move to Tennessee. Noriko and kids were lured into USA, and he served Noriko with divorce papers upon arrival. She had to agree to remain in USA, learn English, and find a job in order to keep her kids. Noriko felt as if she was cornered to the edge of cliff with constant criticism by Amy. She had to fend for herself alone in forein country. If Christopher chose to remain in Japan for kids and consideration to Noriko, then Amy has to come to Japan and learn Japanese. But she would not be alone, at least her new husband Christopher would be on her side.
Reply to this comment

by toldyouso21 October 20, 2009 12:22 PM EDT
See!! This is the story I heard and if this is true, then GOOD for Noriko! Because if this is true, then Christopher basically tried to use His American citizenship and his clout as an American in an American court system to first STEAL the kids. Then Noriko was smart enough to leave and take her kids--which means she STOLE the kids back from him. And Noriko is using her clout as a Japanese citizen to win the battle on her own soil. Christopher's mistake was not thinking through how to cheat his exwife not only out of the marriage but out of the kids--when he let her take them home--he lost.

But he should have lost--no way is such a person who would have an affair then try to divorce his foreign wife and take advantage of that situation a better parent. Chris is an ****** IF this is true and I hope it does come out and gets splashed all over the media if he and Amy are adulterers and tried to "play" Noriko. Instead--they got played and now, ol'Chris won't be seeing the kids. They should have kept him in jail. Because if this is true, divine justice would have been --no kids for him and no mistress/wife either and poor Amy would have had to learn that nothing good comes from stealing either children or husbands from other women.

[CommentMaker]

Even though we have the best intentions when we marry, we never know what culture is in the veins and how strong it can be. Once the children are produced and the alegence is elsewhere there is nothing that can be done on foreign soil. How sad it is that we are not able to consider the consequences.

[toldyouso21]

Why and how did this man get full custody? I don't understand how he was granted full custody--shared custody and she fled? yeah. But full custody? Was she an unfit mom? Or was she a woman that did not speak English and was bamboozled in the court system? The real point here is the safety and welfare of the children. Few dads are granted full custody unless a mother waives her rights is proven incompetent (crazy or an addict) and endangers her own children. Or unavailable (in jail or a mental institution)

So the question is, how did Tennesse Courts award him full custody and under what circumstances? And if he had full custody, why did his exwife have the kids long enough to get to an airport and leave the country--when did she get passports and why did he not have an injunction against her using them?

Things in this case do not add up. No man gets full custody of children (due to men's propensity more so than women to molest or abuse their kids) if a mother is competent and not an abuser. Full custody is something usually awarded to women as primary care givers. Did the dad perhaps set the mom up to lose her kids (we see he is married to someone else--an American)

There is another side to this--before we take either side, we should hear it--I heard that the children were actually born in Japan and that the dad brought the kids and mom to America just so he could take the kids and have them with his new wife--if that is true--then it is low down and dirty. What IS the real story here?

If she took them just to keep them from him but there was just cause why she should not have them (not being financially stable enough or a foreigner is not enough) then shame on her and she is low down and dirty.

We don't know the real story and this man is not likely to say anything that will not net him public sympathy.

[Leah01]

The mother had custody of the children when she left the US. The kids were living with her, and Chris was living with his new family. Chris only got custody after she was in Japan and therefore did not show up in the Tenn court and the judge ruled against her. As you suspect, Chris is not telling the whole story.

The mother is not a bad mother. Chris is a Japanese citizen who lived in Japan with his Japanese wife and Japanese children for their 14 year marriage until 2008. He moved back to the US and his wife and kids followed him only for his wife to be served with divorce papers a couple days after moving to the US, after not letting her divorce him a year earlier in Japan. He divorced her then married the woman it seems he had been cheating on her with. It looks like Chris played her and the system, knowing that she would not be allowed to return to Japan with her kids, and he could have both his new family and his old one.

No mother would want to be stranded in a new country when she didn't even speak the language or have a job, without her husband and with her kids. Divorcing her in Japan would have meant that she would have kept the kids in Japan and he would not be able to move back to the US and have both his new family and his old family.

The mother took her kids back to where they had lived all their lives and let the smart ex have his new wife but not at everyone else's expense. Chris should have divorced her in Japan (since he never bothered to register his divorce there and they are considered legally married) and worked out the custody, but he played the system again, and lost. He was caught by the cops.

Lol, after his friends who helped him kidnap the kids off the street said he forced the kids into the car, now he says he "hugged" them into the car. Who runs from the police and tries to get onto foreign soil unless they think what they are doing is illegal? Who runs from the police with their little children trailing them? Those kids could have been seriously hurt! Chris needs to realize his ex-wife isn't stupid, and neither is the public.

This case is far from being what it is portrayed by Chris and Amy Savoie.

[foreignerinjapan]

"No man gets full custody of children (due to men's propensity more so than women to molest or abuse their kids) if a mother is competent and not an abuser."

Where did you get this idea from?

Leah01 is correct that the father won custody after the mother left but it was because she had a warrant for defying a court order. The mother had a lawyer who could have appeared in her absence.

[Ceres6]

It is always painful for any parent to be prevented from enjoying life with their children. Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the children of Christopher Savoie will grow up. And they will realize what a great father they have, and what happened to them was simply the product of the selfishness and dishonesty of their mother.

[toldyouso21]

..or she may tell them a story of abuse and how Christopher tricked her into coming to America, only to divorce her due to his affair and then how he used the court system to cheat her out of any rights to her own kids. True or not (and we DON'T KNOW) she will have at least 14 to 18 years to implant and reinforce her version of events. They may not decide their mom was selfish after all. they may decide that their mom loved them just as much and due to her being cheated out of custody in a foreign land---she decided to take a chance and risk imprisonment (if she had been caught fleeing stateside) by taking them home.

Whom they believe will depend a lot on their experiences in Japan. If they are favorable, she will have a huge vote in her favor that she made the right decision and no matter what, their dad will be viewed as an exotic foreigner who almost destroyed their lives. If their childhood is miserable or not that great, they may yearn for the life they were deprived of.

Honestly, in talking about selfishness--unless this woman was unfit, I think full custody to the dad was a pretty selfish thing to strive for anyway.

[prelude1986]

In Japan, there are many court cases on international divorce along with child custody dispute between Japanese and Americans or other foreign nationals. In most cases, Japanese mothers are awarded full custody. Sadly, many Japanese wives run away with kids, from verbally and physically abusive husbands. If they live oversea, they come back to Japan, their home country, to seek a safe shelter and supports from extended family. This is true to any women who are married and resides in a foreign country.
Batterers never ever claim themselves as batterers, anywhere in the world.

In this news, I only see an anger and madness, no compassion towards ex-wife or kids whatsoever. Yes I understand how much he loves his kids, but what about how your action affecting your children? Has he ever thought he is taking his kids away from their mom, by kidnapping them on the way to school? His action seemed to be a nightmare to kids and ex-wife.

He had to follow and respect the Japanese law. A court does not recognize accountability to someone who break its law.

[incog-nito]

Um... She is the one who chose to deprive the kids of their father. She is the one who broke the law by taking the kids to another country without notice, breaking the terms of custody and visitation. There is no evidence of abuse or battery. She is the one guilty of kidnapping.

Think, people, think.

[tmsaurman]

Well if you read the article, you would understand that he did not "abuse or batter" his ex wife. A US court gave him custody, they wouldn't have if there was evidence of such behaviour. Please read before you accuse some one. Also wouldn't you have "anger and madness" if someone kidnapped your kids and took them to a foreign country and that country wouldn't let you near your kids?

[toldyouso21]

She is in Japan.She did not break Japanese laws. He did. YOU THINK. It would be like the police from Iran wanting to arrest you for kissing in public and so you hightail it back to the US--where what you did is not an offence and no one can turn you over to Iran, because we do not have an extradition treaty with them.

Never be so ethnocentric that you apply YOUR country's laws or rules to an entirely different society. She ran home. Home was safe.
Taking kids back appears to be legal there--stealing them back once they ARE there, appears to be kidnapping.

He is lucky that international attention and pressure allowed him to be freed. He could have spent years in Japan --in prison. Thank God for the internet and public access.

[incog-nito]

toldyouso21: Think again. Go back to when she illegally took the kids to another country without notice. Yes it's true, THAT's illegal. Look it up.

[toldyouso21]

It is only illegal in America not in Japan.But then, she was not an American citizen. She was served with divorce papers upon arrival in this country. The other story is that Chris was having an affair with an American and wanted his kids, so he lured his Japanese wife there, served her with papers then dumped her and worked a system geared to citizens. If that happened, then Chris tried to steal his kids then she stole them back.

And my case is appropos. Kissing in public is illegal in Iran. Had you done so, then you would either face their laws or high tail it back home. Once here, you are not subject to their laws but to your own.

Japan does not recognize parental kidnapping as a crime. America does not recognize kissing in public as a crime. If Christopher attempted to steal these kids from their mother--then God is just in letting him lose them in this way. Nothing good comes from cheating or dishonesty and for those who say the Japanese mom is dishonest and selfish for stealing her kids---then so is Christopher--for stealing her kids stateside. They said her ultimatum was to learn English in a year, get a full time job within a year if she wanted even partial custody--that is rank. YOu don't take someone's kids away because they are foreign and grant them no custodial rights. The more I hear about this case, the more I'm glad she took them away. If Amy and Chris want kids so bad--let Amy make her own. If she can.

[prelude1986]

tmsaurman:
According to this story, Japan is no foreign country to anyone in this family. Even Christopher is a Japanese citizen.
He should have been aware of the fact that if he files a divorce in Japan, he could have had a better chance of visitation rights and arrangement in Japan. I don't know why he pretends that he doesn't know any law in Japan.
If you have an adultery, this would be a good reason for psychological abuse. Abuse in domestic violence includes not just physical aspect but also psychological aspect. Think of why this man divorced his wife.

[lileoj]

This is SUCH bs. Japan NEEDS to sign the anti-kidnapping laws into effect and put this B*&^ch in jail for kidnapping his kids. I don't care if shes the biological mother, she had NO RIGHT TO TAKE THEM!!!

[toldyouso21]

You don't know the full story. There is another side. I heard he had the kids with his Japanese wife in Japan then tricked her to coming to the states with the kids, when all the while he had a mistress and planned (and succeeded) to take the kids away from her and have his new wife adopt them. Sort of like making a woman (this Japanese woman) a surrogate mother for a few years, only, uhmmmm... more pleasurable.

I also read that he was able to get full custody because she could not speak or understand English and an interpreter helped to sign her rights away. And they are not HIS kids. A woman does all the work to bring children into this world--give her her due. The children are THEIR kids. Men drop sperm all the time and walk off--the only way a man knows a child is his or that there is a the drama of a pregnancy or child--is if the woman includes him in it and tells him--but for women--they know it from the minute they miss a period.

So one grows and cares for the baby and until it gets here--men have nothing to do with the baby, though they may support the woman financially. Men cannot even ensure a healthy baby or healthcare for the woman--that is between her, her doctor and the baby--men are out of the loop until a child is born. So basically, in physical terms or reality--a baby is about 95% a womans and 5% a man's until it is born, then it becomes about 45/55 due to nurturing and usually one or the other providing more physically.

[mitly]

First, she spoke English; prior to meeting Savoie, she was working in Silicon Valley. She has residency in the United States. They met in the States in 1991 and married in 1996. So much for the no English, no translator, poor manipulated woman theory.

Buy why come back to the United States for the divorce?

Seh comes to the US specifically for the divorce, and receives:
(1) $800,000 in a lump sum
(2) $30,000 in an account for Isaac
3) $30,000 in an account for Rebecca
(4) an unspecified (in the transcript) amount of money for Noriko?s education
(5) unspecified (in the transcript) monthly alimony payments
(6) primary custody of the children
(7) The right to take the children to Japan for 6 weeks every summer, with Christopher paying for all airfare

I can see why she came to the United States for the divorce. If he's manipulative, she's just as bad or worse.

Men have nothing to do with the baby. Sorry, financial support is the difference between a baby living and a baby dying. Go feed it on only love and see how long the baby lives. Ms. Noriko apparently knew this.

[Leah01]

Under Japanese law he had no right to take them either. Are you screaming for him to have stayed in jail for kidnapping her kids?

[prelude1986]

Before cursing this Japanese mother, just try to think of why he had to divorce this woman. And the answer is very obvious. There was another woman involved in this split. I wonder who started an adultery which caused this tragedy.
She was first awarded for custody of their children.

[mitly]

How on earth do you know why he divorced his wife? Were you in bed between the two of them or something?

[prelude1986]

mitly:
According to what is written and out, Amy, his new wife, was in bed between the two of them.

That is why I see this news inconsistent and unfair, because Amy comes out and say she misses these children. She having an affair with the father is one of the reasons why they divorced. If there were no divorce, maybe they did not have to go back to Japan.

And you stress on Noriko being able to speak English or living in the states prior to their marriage, but she is not fluent at all, according to those hearings. At this level of fluency, she probably would not be able to understand as much as a native speaker, or express what she has to say precisely in English, especially in court. If you read any of their divorce hearing materials, it is very clear.
And if you ever meet any Japanese woman who lives in the states with her American husband, you would know exactly how it is difficult for them to speak up herself in this kind of formal occasions such as court hearings. They may be fluent enough to be housewives, but not so fluent in formal occasions.

Also, I think it is totally okay to receive any compensation for divorce. She is an Asian woman who is a single mother of two, living in deep South with no relatives around at least for another ten years. She has to live in deep south, where it is not always so friendly to Asians or immigrants. There is no relatives who can babysit for her children. I wonder whether she has any prior work experiences in order to be hired or support these children. If there is none, I am sure she should be awarded this much.
If this figure is too much, you should consider how badly he wanted this divorce and how much damage he has caused to her and these children. Remember, these figures are awarded by the court, not voluntarily by Savoie. I am sure the Tennessee court ruled and calculated this figure as how much she deserves by this divorce.
She is not allowed to permanently return to Japan for at least another ten to fifteen years and has not much shots for getting herself a job. She needs education and starting to support herself in Tennessee, not in LA or NY. I wonder how hard it is going to be to find herself a job.

Do you know who filed a divorce? I hear it is by Savoie, not Noriko. He is the one who should be blamed to file divorce in the states, not in Japan.

[mitly]

That sounds like a good night with a bottle of cognac. Noriko, Savioe, and Amy in the middle.

[Gator96]

Maybe he should have thought about his kids and family before he destroyed it by cheating on his wife. He is a victim of his own poor choices and doesn't deserve any sympathy from his sob story.

[presjfk]

The gate didn't open? I want to see the footage from the security cameras.

[incog-nito]

As usual, the U.S. let down its own citizens to placate other countries, while these countries run roughshod over our citizens' rights.

[Leah01]

LOL, he's a Japanese citizen on Japanese soil accused of breaking Japanese law. Since Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship, he had to swear to give up his US citizenship to become a Japanese citizen. The US should have intervened and said the Japanese judicial system should treat a Japanese citizen in Japan by US laws? Would a US citizen in the US expect Japanese laws to apply?

[Aonghas_Crowe]

Boy, you got that right. The officials were no use to me when I was arrested a few years ago.

http://aonghascrowe.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/2-19